ObjectiveThe purpose of the present meta-analysis was to evaluate the association between the inflammatory potential of diet, determined by the dietary inflammatory index (DII®) score, and depression.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.SettingA comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE databases up to August 2018. All observational studies that examined the association of the DII score with depression/depressive symptoms were included.SubjectsFour prospective cohorts and two cross-sectional studies enrolling a total of 49 584 subjects.ResultsOverall, individuals in the highest DII v. the lowest DII category had a 23 % higher risk of depression (risk ratio (RR)=1·23; 95 % CI 1·12, 1·35). When stratified by study design, the pooled RR was 1·25 (95 % CI 1·12, 1·40) for the prospective cohort studies and 1·16 (95 % CI 0·96, 1·41) for the cross-sectional studies. Gender-specific analysis showed that this association was observed in women (RR=1·25; 95 % CI 1·09, 1·42) but was not statistically significant in men (RR=1·15; 95 % CI 0·83, 1·59).ConclusionsThe meta-analysis suggests that pro-inflammatory diet estimated by a higher DII score is independently associated with an increased risk of depression, particularly in women. However, more well-designed studies are needed to evaluate whether an anti-inflammatory diet can reduce the risk of depression.

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